Phil Disclosure: Mickelson is a Serial Undisclosed Celebrity Endorser

Today, while reading an article about 5 Guys Burgers ("All in the Family") in the August 2012 issue of Forbes Magazine, I came across a reference to Phil Mickelson. In 2010, Mickelson gave a glowing, unprompted endorsement of Five Guys Burgers during a press conference at The Players Championship.

"What I’ve done the last five days, go to Five Guys Burgers. That place is so good. I can’t stop going there. This will be my sixth day in a row. I grew up on In-n-Out. I thought that was the best burger until I had Five Guys. That is hands down the best burger I’ve ever had" (see story here).

A few days later, fellow golfer Stewart Cink, a big fan of In-N-Out, directed this tweet at AP golf writer Doug Ferguson: “Keep in mind, PM owns SoCal rights to FiveGuys. Biased argument?”

[Keep in mind that Cink may shill for In-N-Out - his Twitter profile shows him eating an In-N-Out burger and fires.]

Cink was correct - Mickelson was biased. As reported on CNBC, Gaylord Sports Management, which represents Mickelson, confirmed that Mickelson was in fact part of a group that has purchased the rights for Five Guys franchises in Orange County.

A few months later, during the 2010 PGA Championship, Mickelson again made an "unsolicited" endorsement. This time, it was for ENBREL, the Amgen/Pfizer drug inicated for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis.

The subtitle to a NowPublic article titled "Phil Mickelson Arthritis: Will Play At PGA Whistling Straights", stated "Phil Mickelson Has Psoriatic Arthritis - Uses Enbrel To Help Manage Condition." The article (here) includes this quote from Mickelson: "I have no aches and pains. My back feels great. I feel stronger and more flexible than I've ever been."

At the time, I asked "Is Phil Mickelson Shilling for Enbrel?"

Well, the jury is out on whether or not Mickelson was a paid ENBREL celebrity endorser at the time he made that statement. But in a manner similar to his Five Guys Burgers outing by social media, it was later revealed that Mickelson was indeed a paid celebrity spokesperson for ENBREL (see "Phil Mickelson 'Opens Up' to Arthritis Today Magazine"). The Arthritis Today article claims that Mickelson "entered into a partnership with Amgen-Pfizer, an Arthritis Foundation sponsor, in November, 2010." Also see "Amgen Blows Its Marketing Budget on Phil Mickelson Campaign" for the Amgen press release announcing the deal.

As soon as Phil became a PAID spokesperson for ENBREL, he could not say these things because he became an extension of the brand and subject to FDA regulations. But at the time he said the above, I suspect he was giving his future benefactors a freebie! We don't know how long the negotiations were going on before the deal was signed, but this story could have been arranged to seal the deal.

BTW, my sons think Five Guys Burgers are "epic." They ate at a Five Guys joint every week while at Penn State. Of course, they are not paid by Five Guys nor do they own a Five Guys franchise.

So, I'm not saying that Mickelson lied when he said a Five Guys burger was "the best burger I’ve ever had" nor when he said he feels "stronger and more flexible than I've ever been" after taking ENBREL.

My concern is a celebrity who promotes a drug having dangerous side effects without revealing that he may have a financial interest in the product. When Mickelson first made his statements about ENBREL he may or may not have technically signed a contract, but it was obviously meant to get the work -- a demonstration of what he could do. Now that he is featured on ENBREL TV ads, everyone knows he is a paid spokesperson. I have no problem with that, especially that now his commercial speech is regulated by the FDA and he can no longer make outlandish statements.

UPDATE (8/16/2012): In a personal communication, a reader said: "I had to laugh when several times I thought I noticed Phil dropping a right hand wedge into his bag during the TV commercial. But look closely, it's true..." Phil is left-handed, so I guess the director of the commercial used his own clubs as props!

There's Room for Only One Osteoporosis Celebrity Spokeswoman: Sally Field Is Out, Blythe Danner Is In

Amgen -- the company that along with Pfizer signed on Phil Mickelson to shill for ENBREL -- has now signed on Blythe Danner to shill for PROLIA, a drug to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis (see the press release here).

Here's Blythe on the "Act 2 Reduce Fractures" fully-branded web site (click image for larger view):

You are probably not OLD enough to know who Blythe Danner is, but postmenopausal women probably remember her in such classics as To Kill a Clown (1972), or as Robert De Niro's wife in the acclaimed series Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, and Little Fockers. If you are not yet of menopausal age, you no doubt have heard of Blythe's equallly environmentally friendly daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Depending on the patent expiry of PROLIA, Gwyneth might one day also be a PROLIA spokeswoman. Gwyneth is currently 39 years old, whereas Blythe is 68. Hmmm... 29 years difference. By the time Gwyenth is menopausal PROLIA is sure to be off patent -- unless, that is, AMGEN comes up with a new formulation for the drug.

It seems there's not enough room in the postmenopausal osteoporosis celebrity spokeswomen market for two aging stars. Sally Field, who shilled for BONIVA for many years, is no where to be seen on the BONIVA web site. She has been replaced by generic postmenopausal women as in the screen shot below:

Cute, but no Sally Field!

Come to think of it, I haven't seen Sally on TV in a long while. I mean on a TV commercial for BONIVA. I look forward to seeing Blythe, however. Maybe Gwyneth will do a cameo appearance?

Unlike Sally, Blythe has never won an Oscar. Her spokesperson paycheck from AMGEN, therefore, must be much less than the one Sally received from MERCK. My guess is that AMGEN shot most of its celebrity spokesperson wad when it hired Mickelson (see "Amgen Blows Its Marketing Budget on Phil Mickelson Campaign").

Amgen's Prolia Website Features Stories from "Typical" But Not "Actual" Women Like You

You've probably been seeing DTC TV ads for several different osteoporosis drugs these days. No longer does Sally Field dominate the airwaves hawking Genentech's Boniva. AMGEN's twice-per-year injectable Prolia, for example, is now competing with once-per-month injectable Boniva.

Unlike Boniva, however, Prolia does not have a celebrity spokeswoman. What it has are "Women Like You."

The Prolia website prominently displays the option titled "Stories from women like you." Below is a screen shot of that option showing Karen, 71, who talks about Prolia.

Unfortunately, neither Karen nor any of the other "women like you," is an actual patient. Their stories, AMGEN claims, are "examples of typical patients--not the experiences of actual patients." Maybe it's difficult to get real patient stories for a new drug. I've heard from posts on CafePharma that sales of Prolia suck big time because few GPs want to prescribe a new, unproven biologic that remains in the body for a whole year. Plus there are re-imbursement issues.

Karen tells her story AS IF she were a real patient and provides details of how she fractured her left wrist. "I should be glad it wasn't my right [wrist]," says Karen. "My doctor said, 'Karen, you didn't get a fracture from being clumsy. You got a fracture from weak bones.'"

[BTW, I love the new age music in the background!]

Karen mentions that she is doing "everything my doctor told me to do to strengthen my bones." At first -- within the first two minutes of the video -- she only mentions getting a "shot every six months," which she "likes" and says"works for me." Later on, Karen does mention calcium pills, exercise, etc.

While Karen doesn't mention specific side effects, some specific side effects do pop up in the video frame in mouse-sized type that is difficult to read -- especially, I imagine, for older women. The last 2 minutes of the video highlights the important safety information using a scrolling text screen and a voiceover.

Perhaps, over time AMGEN will collect stories from ACTUAL patients to replace Karen and other "not actual patients" on its website. Meanwhile, I remain queasy about actors portraying "typical" patients in drug ads. Has the FDA issued any guidelines regarding what constitutes a "typical patient" in drug ads? FDA has issued warning letters about actors whose dialogue overstates benefits or downplays risks, but I don't recall any letter that questioned whether or not the portrayal is "typical."

Suppose, instead of a typical patient, AMGEN had a video of a "typical" physician? Would the FDA (or AMA for that matter) rise up and challenge the concept of a typical physician?

It seems to me that allowing drug marketers to use actors to portray what is labeled a "typical patient" is worse than using actual patients who tell real stories stories, even if those stories are not typical. At least we can challenge the veracity of "real" stories versus "typical" stories.

"On Course with Phil" Lacks Social Media Pizzazz!

This is NOT an attack on Phil Mickelson! I've already done that, been there (see Phil Mickelson "Opens Up" to Arthritis Today Magazine and Is Phil Mickelson Shilling for Enbrel?). So, relax and proceed to the back nine! This is about the "non-branded" disease awareness campaign just announced by Pfizer & Amgen, the companies that bring you ENBREL.

The centerpiece of the campaign is the "On Course with Phil" website, which is pretty lame by today's social media standards. Before I get to that, let me show you the homepage screen that I just captured:

In case you missed it, I circled the "money shot," which is not Phil hitting the ball in the hole, but the prominent link to a "treatment option." The link, of course, leads directly to the branded ENBREL website. Surely, this biologic compound that has a LONG list of things you need to tell your doctor about before taking (eg, "if you live or have lived in ...the Southwest") is NOT the first treatment option one should consider!

Amgen and Pfizer have teamed up (ie, given money to) the Arthritis Foundation and the National Psoriasis Foundation -- patient groups -- to form the "Joint Smart Coalition," which is responsible for the "On Course with Phil" campaign.

On the "On Course with Phil" website, Phil says that he first experienced pain right after the 2010 U.S. Open, which was held in Pebble Beach, California -- the same "Southwest" that the ENBREL package insert says you should tell your doctor about if you ever lived there.

Anyhoo, the website is pretty primitive. I was hoping to see at least a video clip of Phil shooting some balls or maybe even telling us personally about his experience. Instead, you have to click "1", "2", etc. to read what he has to say. Very BORING!

And that "SHARE" button in the upper right corner -- it's not what you think. All it is is a form whereby you can send an email to one other person. Where's the social media share button that allows you to share this site on Twitter, Facebook, etc? I can get code for that and not even pay a dime for it! Like this one:

Share |

Pfizer is often touted to be a leader in social media. But if Pfizer built this site, then it's not worthy of wearing that mantle. I think, however, the real reason this site is basic Web 1.0 is that AMGEN and PFIZER spent all their money on signing up Mickelson and they have none left over to do anything fancy like video or social media integration (see Amgen Blows Its Marketing Budget on Phil Mickelson Campaign).

I've often said that celebrities and social media is a "match made in heaven" for product promotion and that the drug industry is likely to use this combination more often (see "Use of Celebrities for PR and DTC Advertising"; use discount code: 71-01PMYFREE). So, it's a surprise to me that Pfizer and Amgen have not (yet) taken advantage of the synergies between celebrities and social media as other drug companies have done (see, for example, Danica Patrick: NASCAR Driver, Super Model, Superbowl Lingerie Ad Model, & COPD Spokesperson All Rolled Into one!). But, hey, it could still happen! 

Phil Mickelson "Opens Up" to Arthritis Today Magazine

Top pro golfer Phil Mickelson is featured on the cover of the Mar-April 2011 issue of Arthritis Today magazine (see photo).

Recall that Mickelson announced he had psoriatic arthritis last August in a news story titled "PGA Championship 2010, Whistling Straits: Phil Mickelson Has Psoriatic Arthritis - Uses Enbrel To Help Manage Condition."

In that story, Mickelson was quoted as saying "I have no aches and pains. My back feels great. I feel stronger and more flexible than I've ever been." (see "Is Phil Mickelson Shilling for Enbrel?").

When he made that statement, Phil was obviously demonstrating to AMGEN/PFIZER -- the companies that market ENBREL -- what he can do to help them promote their product. AMGEN/PFIZER were suitably impressed and signed him up a few months later (or so they say).

Now that Phil is a paid ENBREL spokesperson, his remarks are more balanced. Here are some quotes from an article in the Arthritis Today issue that features him on the cover:

"Phil tried taking prednisone [a generic drug], but the side effects were awful, he says." [His Mayo Clinic doctors prescribed "weekly injections of a biologic drug"; later in the article several brand name drugs, including Humira, Enbrel, Remicade, and Simponi, are mentioned, but the article doesn't reveal exactly which drug Phil is taking -- that's already on the record elsewhere. But we now know that he didn't like the generic medicine.]

"I like where I am physically and am optimistic about 2011."

"I might take the medicine for a year and then go off it. Then, when and if it flares up, I'd go back on the medicine. I'm OK with taking medicine the rest of my life if I have to."

At the end of this article is this NOTE: "This interview took place after Phil Mickelson entered into a partnership with Amgen-Pfizer, an Arthritis Foundation sponsor, in November, 2010."

So, Amgen-Pfizer not only has to pay Phil, they also have to pay the Arthritis Foundation to get his story published! No wonder AMGEN has blown its marketing budget (see here).

Amgen Blows Its Marketing Budget on Phil Mickelson Campaign

Back in August 2010, I asked "Is Phil Mickelson Shilling for Enbrel?" (see this post). My question was prompted by a couple of "news" stories, one of which proclaimed "PGA Championship 2010, Whistling Straits: Phil Mickelson Has Psoriatic Arthritis - Uses Enbrel To Help Manage Condition."

The story also included this quote from Phil: "I have no aches and pains. My back feels great. I feel stronger and more flexible than I've ever been."

That's quite a claim! If Phil made such a claim while being a paid spokesperson for ENBREL, he would have probably violated FDA regulations regarding unsubstantiated claims. He also would have violated FTC regulations regarding celebrity endorsements and testimonials by not disclosing "material connections" (payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect.

Well, Phil IS a shill for ENBREL after all! I missed this November 2010 AMGEN/PFIZER press release that made the announcement. In case that press release is no longer available, here's what it said:

Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq: AMGN), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and world-class professional golfer Phil Mickelson, have entered into a partnership to share Phil's experience with his diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis and treatment with Enbrel(R) (etanercept), and to encourage patients with similar symptoms to visit their doctor for proper assessment and care.


"This partnership with Amgen and Pfizer is important because being a psoriatic arthritis patient has motivated me to share my story," said Phil Mickelson. "I hope to encourage other patients to work with their doctors, learn about their condition and take action so that they have an opportunity to get back to some of the things that matter most to them."


Psoriatic arthritis is a form of arthritis caused by an overactive immune system that can affect not only the body's joints but also the skin. Approximately 600,000 Americans may have psoriatic arthritis. The main joint symptoms of psoriatic arthritis are pain, stiffness and swelling. Rheumatoid arthritis patients experience similar symptoms, however there are important differences between the two conditions, making it important to see a doctor.


Amgen and Pfizer were inspired by Mickelson's approach to managing his condition and by his continued drive to maintain his health. Those same qualities have kept him on top of the competitive world of golf and this is why the companies are excited to be partnering with him. Amgen and Pfizer believe his perseverance in the face of adversity will encourage patients to also work with their doctors to manage their condition and help them get back on course.


Further details and timing of future partnership initiatives will be announced in 2011.

I can't wait for these "further details" to learn more.

One thing I did learn from an insider is this: Amgen cannot afford to sponsor "a cheap and effective Web and cell phone-based patient adherence solution" because it has blown its entire marketing budget on the Phil Mickelson campaign.

It's worth more to AMGEN -- maybe PFIZER too -- to get the ENBREL brand associated with a celebrity and a golf tournament than it is to support patients who are already taking the drug. Considering that the demographic that is attracted to Phil -- mostly older, more affluent men -- it's also a slap in the face to more typical psoriasis sufferers who probably can't afford ENBREL in the first place!